Gulf lenders could leapfrog legacy rivals in the global shift to AI-enabled banking if they commit faster and push investment into the right use cases, two senior industry figures told Arabian Business on the AB Majlis podcast.
“AI is transforming the whole banking industry… in a wide range of areas, from fraud, AML, investments, customer service… helping banks increase their revenues, reduce their cost and enhance the customer experience,” said Steve Bertamini, former chief executive at Al Rajhi Bank and KGI Financial Holdings and now global financial services adviser to Kearney.
Mukund Bhatnagar, Kearney partner and global lead for financial services, said GCC banks hold structural advantages – fewer legacy systems, ample liquidity and the ability to build “AI-native” capability – but warned pace matters.
“GCC banks have a tremendous advantage… they are acting on it, but they need to push harder and faster,” he said. The litmus test, he added, is whether consumers “feel the change on the ground,” rather than AI being confined to back-office pilots.
The executives said the strongest near-term returns are coming from automating repeat operational work such as document processing and contract reading, with front-end innovation progressing but uneven.
“The first wave was fairly tactical… it’s still probably 80 per cent machine learning and then AI is the enhancer,” Bertamini said, noting boards are now shifting towards more strategic, enterprise-level adoption.
On mortgages, both cautioned against removing humans from high-stakes decisions. Buying a home is “usually the largest purchase a customer will make… I don’t see that being delegated to AI,” Bertamini said, framing mortgages as an “anchor product” that secures long-term relationships. Bhatnagar forecast more AI in credit decisioning with human checks for edge cases, but argued customer experience must remain “emotive” where it matters.
By 2030, everyday banking will be more automated and more personalised, the guests said. Branches won’t disappear but will skew to complex advice, while apps and service channels adapt in real time to individual needs. “The key theme will be hyper-personalisation… it might even get creepier at times,” Bhatnagar said, stressing the need to balance capability with data privacy and regulatory comfort.
Both highlighted data quality as the make-or-break constraint. “You need clean data… getting the data in a consistent manner that can be used with confidence is usually a very big step that people haven’t invested enough on,” Bertamini said, urging banks to treat data as a strategic asset with proper governance.
On competition, they see banks and fintechs in a “symbiotic dance” – with partnerships, corporate venture arms and targeted acquisitions becoming the norm. The bigger long-term threat could come from Big Tech rather than standalone fintech challengers.
“They can afford to offer banking services for nothing because they understand the value of data… banking just becomes another product for them,” Bertamini said, citing Apple and other “Magnificent Seven” firms.
Scale will still matter. Larger, well-capitalised lenders can outspend smaller peers on AI platforms, fraud controls and regulatory-grade risk tooling.
“The big usually survive… the smaller ones, unless they innovate, either become acquired or it becomes more challenging for them to compete,” Bertamini said.
The conversation – hosted by Tala Michel Issa, Chief Reporter at Arabian Business – featured Bertamini and Bhatnagar of Kearney, which advises GCC banks, governments and conglomerates on transformation.
Tune in to AB Majlis every Monday
To listen to the full episode and gain a comprehensive understanding of doing business in the Gulf region, visit our RSS feed or check out AB Majlis on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.
Episodes are also available on:
Tune in every Monday for weekly episodes that will help you stay ahead of the curve and enrich your understanding of the Gulf region.
Subscribe to Arabian Business for more exclusive content.
Follow us on
